Arthur had barely gotten any sleep when he was awoken by one of the servants. Without any explanation the servant just turned around and walked right out of the room. He looked at the clock and groaned when it read 3:27 A.M. "What the hell are my parents doing in coming home this early in the morning and summoning me," Arthur thought bitterly. Without even bothering to put clothes on, he started walking towards his dad's study where he assumed they were waiting for him.
Walking through the hallways at night always gave Arthur a panicked feeling. Ever since he was little the mansion and grounds had a sinister feeling to them like they were hiding something. After visiting the Bonnefoy estate he couldn't but help realize the two estates were complete opposites of each other. Bu he knew that the Bonnefoy family also had its dark side as well. They were just better at making it not so obvious. These thoughts were still running through Arthur's head as he entered his dad's study.
He was greeted by the stern expressions of his parents, but it wasn't like he was expecting a happy expression on either of their faces. "You wanted me," said Arthur not even bothering with saying hello. "We just heard that you and Francis had some disagreements when you met yesterday. We only wanted to remind you that this marriage is vital to the family and will proceed at all costs," said Arthur's father in a monotone voice that didn't portray any emotion. Arthur acknowledged his father's words with a slight nod and walked out of the room. He didn't want to spend any more time talking with his parents than necessary. He had always hated being near his parents which was why he wasn't home often. The only reason Arthur spent any time at the estate was to see Peter and Alfred. His last thought before falling asleep was him wondering what troubles Francis experienced at his home.
If he had his way, Arthur would have slept until it was absolutely necessary for him to get up. Unfortunately his brothers had a different idea in mind. "No fair Alfred! Give it back," whined Peter.
"Only after you admit that I'm a hero," said Alfred while laughing his head off. Arthur opened his door to see Alfred holding a stuffed bear while Peter was trying, and failing, to get it back. Knowing that yelling at them would only make them get even louder, Arthur just mumbled curses against his younger brothers. Noticing a maid he asked about the location of his parents. All he got in response was a shake of the maid's head indicating they weren't home.
"They didn't even bother to say hello to Alfred or Peter," he thought angry at his parents. Heading towards the kitchen, he noticed the usual breakfast already laid out for him on the kitchen table.
"So when's the chick coming over," asked Alfred as he pulled up a chair beside him.
"It's not very gentlemanly to call a lady a chick, and it's 12:00 if you must know," replied Arthur while rolling his eyes. When Peter joined them and started to eat he realized this is the first time that they ate together without their parents there.
As they ate breakfast Peter started to talk about some new friends that he made recently. Noticing that Alfred was tired Arthur couldn't resist teasing him. "You need to introduce me to your friend sometime soon. I want to meet this person that you keep on meeting late at night," he said with a sly grin on his face. Alfred's face immediately started to blush.
"I-I don't know who you're talking about," he said while turning an even darker shade of red. Arthur said nothing else and drank his tea knowing eventually he would learn who this special person in Alfred's life was.
At this moment the only employee of the house that even talked to Arthur walked in the kitchen. "I hate to interrupt you Master you need to start preparing for Michelle's visit," said Richard while looking at Arthur and Peter ganging up on a blushing Alfred. Arthur sighed and followed Richard up to his room. "May I ask what you did to get Alfred quiet and blushing like that sir? I don't think I've ever seen him like that before," asked Richard always curious about his young master's lives.
"Not much. We were just trying to find out who Alfred is dating but he won't tell us. Do you know Richard?" Richard just smiled and replied, "I'm afraid Alfred will have to tell you that himself. If I tell you he would get mad at me for spilling his secret." Arthur sighed knowing he wouldn't be able to get anything else out of Richard. The man good was quite good at keeping secrets when he wanted to. As they arrived at Arthur's room Richard suddenly made a very grave face. "When Master Alfred does tell you who he dating, I would advise you to support him no matter what. When they first started going out Alfred was so guilty that he almost ended the relationship. I know your parents wouldn't approve of the person that he is dating so Alfred will require your full support in the future." Arthur just nodded too shocked for words and slipped inside his room. Richard rarely talked as seriously as he just did, but when he did it was always of great importance. This only deepened the mystery for who his brother was dating. While mulling over this question he started to get dressed knowing Michelle could arrive at any second.
Right after he got his clothes on the bell rang. Knowing it was probably Michelle Arthur quickly started to walk towards the entrance. As soon as he got to the bottom of the stairs a random butler opened the door. When he went forward to greet Michelle, Arthur stopped when he saw who was behind her. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"
France entered the mansion with a smirk on his face. "For your information Matthew and I are here to meet your family," said Francis with a sneer. Arthur just grumbled remembering that he promised himself to be nice to Francis.
"Hey is that the chick you're supposed to marry," asked Alfred as he ran down the stairs two steps at a time with Peter in tow. Arthur introduced everybody and invited Michelle to have some tea out in the pavilion. Peter decided to join them along with Francis who was determined to not let Michelle out of his sight. As they were drinking the tea Peter was talking animatedly to Michelle about the internet while Arthur shifted uncomfortably in his seat wondering what to do next. He hadn't expected for Francis to show up which ruined his plans for the rest of the day. He glanced at Francis and saw him staring at something in the distance ignoring what was going on around him. Then Francis turned to look at Arthur and showed briefly an emotion that confused him. However it was gone too quickly for Arthur to figure out what it was.
"So where are your parents? I would assume you would introduce us to them," said Francis back to his usual self. "My parents aren't home at the time. If you would like to meet them you might have to wait a while. They're rarely home," replied Arthur not thinking much about the absence of his parents.
"It must be hard not to see your parents often," said Michelle with a concerned look on her face. "Not really. I'm not home enough as it is to notice the difference anyways," he replied with a shrug. At an attempt to change the subject Peter suggested that they go out into the garden.
When they did get to the garden Peter dragged Michelle off to one of his favorite spots leaving Francis and Arthur alone. They started walking in the garden neither knowing what to say.
"I have a question for you. Why are you marrying ma soeur? What are you going to get out of this," asked Francis avoiding looking at Arthur.
"As you are probably aware of there was a need of a marriage between our two families. Your family only had Michelle as an option while my family had two, Alfred and me. When we were both told of the marriage I volunteered myself to the marriage," Arthur said deciding not to tell the entire story. Francis somehow noticed this and asked him why he volunteered in the first place. "It's because Alfred is already in love with someone." Noticing Francis's question glance Arthur decided to elaborate more. "It started a while ago, but Alfred started to act more out of it than usual. He always had this dreamy look on his face and was missing more often. Then one day I overheard him on the phone and figured out he was seeing someone. I don't know who but when I found out one of us would marry I didn't want Alfred have to split up with who he was seeing." After finishing his story Arthur was quite surprised of himself. He never told anyone this before but yet he was telling it to someone who completely hated his guts.
Francis looked at him with a sad expression on his face. "I thought you were just mindlessly following your parents orders. I guess I was wrong." The call for dinner came and Francis walked back to the mansion leaving a stunned Arthur behind him.
Alfred and Matthew didn't appear for dinner which worried Arthur knowing that Alfred never skipped a meal before. Seeing Richard, Arthur asked him he knew where they were. "I don't know where they are right now but they stopped by earlier to get dinner." Wondering where they were Arthur ate dinner silently while everyone else talked around him. When he did glance up he always noticed Francis staring at him making him feel uncomfortable.
After dinner was done it was time for Francis, Matthew and Michelle to go home, but Matthew was still missing. Just when they decided to go looking for him Alfred and Matthew finally showed up. "Where the bloody hell were you two? Next time you decide to go missing at least make sure you don't make other people late," yelled Arthur mostly at Alfred assuming him to be the real perpetrator.
"Don't yell at him. It was my fault for not saying we had to leave at a certain time," said Matthew so quiet he was barely heard. Francis just grabbed Matthew and left with Michelle after she tried to say goodbye to Arthur. It was only after a while that Arthur realized that the guests were gone. At this time Alfred decided to escape before Arthur could continue yelling at him. Noticing that Peter was already half asleep on the couch Arthur picked him up and put him in his bed. Knowing he wouldn't be able to get some sleep Arthur stared outside his window wondering if his life would ever be simple.
A/N: ma soeur means sister. Try and guess who Alfred is going out with. I bet it's really obvious but hey I could be wrong. It took me longer to write this chapter than expected because of homework. But my teachers are starting to wind down for the year so I'll have more time to write.
